In particular, waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends, helps you to sleep better at night because you'll be building up your 'sleep drive' (your desire to sleep). So how can you sleep better? Here are a few simple changes you can make…Īs we’ve covered previously on Tom’s Guide, sticking to a consistent bedtime (going to bed and waking up at the same time each day) is one of the best things you can do for your sleep. Improving your sleep quality goes a long way to helping you feel more energized and refreshed when you wake up in the morning, and can also boost your mood.
#NUMBER ONE SLEEP EXPERT MICHAEL BREUS HOW TO#
Light sleep makes up most of a person’s sleep.” How to sleep better at night But as a general guideline we like to see between 45-50% light sleep (stages 1 and 2 combined) across the night. We should also see between four to five cycles of REM as well.”Īs for how much light sleep is normal, “This will depend upon several factors, similar to my answer. “REM sleep tends to be less in the beginning of the night and more at the end. So how much REM sleep do you need? “This will depend upon several factors, but as a general guideline we like to see between 20-25% REM across the night.” Dr. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (opens in new tab) (NIH), dreaming is said to help you process emotions and may help with solidifying memories. It happens around 90 minutes (approximately) after you fall asleep, then occurs roughly every 90 minutes. REM sleep is the part of your sleep cycle where you dream. Having caffeine or alcohol too close to bedtime.An undiagnosed sleep disorder, such as insomnia.In his blog post on how to know if you slept well (opens in new tab), the sleep doctor explains that some of the most common causes of poor sleep are: You don’t hit the snooze button, and you don’t rely on caffeine to get your day started.” Breus, there’s also a simple way to tell if you’re getting enough sleep: “You wake up feeling refreshed and ready to meet the day. Otherwise, you see performance decrements, and safety issues (driving a car, and so on.)”Īccording to Dr. “If you’re asking what the lower-level limit for sleep is, I would say no one should be sleeping less than 6 to 6.5 hours. The stages of sleep include N1 (the lightest stage), N2 (still light sleep but you aren’t as easy to wake), N3 (deep sleep, where your muscles relax and your blood pressure drops), and REM sleep (stage R, where dreams occur and your body is immobilized). The brain does this by cycling through the different stages of sleep. But if you’re regularly sleeping more than 9 hours, and still feeling tired and fatigued, that’s an indication you’re oversleeping-and it’s time to look at what might be causing it.”įar from ‘switching off’, there are various processes going on while we sleep. Some people need 9 hours of sleep a night. “This is similarly true at the other end of the range. “You might be a person who needs 6 or 6.5 hours, but it’s unlikely that any but a very few of us can function and feel at our best on 5 hours of nightly sleep or less. “All of this said, most of us, throughout our adult lifetimes, need somewhere in or near to 7-9 hours’ sleep a night, routinely.” Dr. And it’s not just negative or unwelcoming life events that can drive up a need for sleep: big life changes that are positive can demand more sleep too! (At the same time, these forces often make it difficult to sleep.) If stress is chronic, it can create a chronic sleep debt. “Your life circumstances - stress, and periods of change or upheaval can temporarily increase your need for sleep. The National Sleep Foundation’s guidelines (opens in new tab) recommend: Sleep needs are individual,” Dr Breus explains. “There is no single right amount of sleep that applies to everyone. I tried one of YouTube’s best deep sleep meditations - here’s what happened.How to sleep for longer at night, according to an insomnia expert.Breus (opens in new tab), Chief Sleep Advisor at Purple and one of the foremost sleep doctors in America.
To get an expert answer to this broad question, we spoke to Dr. While guidelines recommend seven to nine hours’ sleep for most adults, the truth is that your age, health, how active you are and other factors can affect how much sleep you need. Getting enough sleep also has positive effects for your immune system.
Breus has published two books on sleep, and has been interviewed on CNN, Oprah, The View, The CBS Early Show, The Today Show and more.īroadly speaking, studies have shown (opens in new tab) that getting the right amount of sleep at night reduces anxiety and depression, and lowers your risk of a variety of health conditions. Breus is a globally renowned sleep expert, Clinical Psychologist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
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